"We got an invitation to the wedding for his brother and my supposedly only ally... my cousin."

    "Talk about how much surprised I was."

    "If you, someone the family really acknowledges, are going to marry the eldest legitimate son, I could have possibly not made any concessions, and stayed outside of it all."

    "I even confronted her with these thoughts, as I was really angry at that time."

    "I became even pregnant with that scum''s child after all, I can''t undo all of that."

    "But what answer did I get?"

    "She feared the chance of me seducing him and didn''t want to leave any possibility.

    "As if I needed that, when he I just needed to choose him, instead of his brother."

    "More than that, with me out of the picture, her chances of capturing his heart were higher since I''m more beautiful than her."

    "And she loved him and wanted him."

    "Like really, talk about ironic."

    "She, who said she didn''t care about love when she was young, got to marry the one she loved in the end. And I, who told myself that I would get to experience love, haven''t even found the person who could make my heart beat."

    While Eva''s chest heaved up and down seductively from her agitation, she took a deep breath, calmed herself slightly, and said,

    "Well, she still kept her promise and helped me with the deal I made with that trash, so I couldn''t hate her completely."

    "Most importantly, even if I had escaped back then, because of my cousin, I could''ve easily been sold again if the Ashvale family deemed it necessary. So, even if it wasn''t the outcome I wanted, it was still better."

    "But ten years ago, he suddenly appeared with members of the Ashvale family and representatives from the Infinitel company to finally test Olivia''s talent, something they hadn''t bothered to do all this time."

    "Clearly, something had happened, though I didn''t know what it was at the time."

    "I didn''t even have the luxury to worry about it, though, because it turned out Olivia had immense talent, even surpassing my cousin''s son.

    "And they wanted to take her away from me, when she was only eight years."

    "But, when all I had in this world was her, how could I possibly accept that?"

    "Then again, would my struggle mean anything?"

    "Fortunately, my cousin, once again, agreed to help me."

    "Well, she was also helping herself, as she wanted to ensure that her son continued receiving the best treatment. But I didn''t care about her reasons."

    "And with her help, someone from the Ashvale family started coming weekly to teach Olivia."

    "Again, time passed peacefully, at least on the surface. And just when I felt like things really couldn''t get any worse, when even my fear that my daughter might one day be treated the same way I was, sold off to someone, began to fade with all the attention she was getting, this time, they started saying that my daughter needs to attend some kind of academy with other talented youths."

    As she spoke, she couldn''t help but glance at the man,... or rather, the boy? Sitting in front of her. He was the same age as her daughter. So, could he have been able to enter that academy as well?

    A small curiosity took hold of her thoughts as she wondered, but without dwelling on it further, she continued.

    "It was more than a year ago that I was told about this."

    "At first, I was worried, but in the end, I knew this time it wasn''t something I could do anything about."

    "Most importantly, I was at least able to let her experience a normal school...